Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer
Eric Hofferwas an American moral and social philosopher. He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that The Ordeal of Change was his finest work...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth25 July 1902
CountryUnited States of America
bullying self-esteem envy
The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than on the diminution of others. Where self-esteem is unobtainable, envy takes the place of greed.
attitude change-your-attitude
To change everything, simply change your attitude.
thinking people may
The superficiality of many is a result of deep fears. It takes spare time to think things out; it takes free time to mature. People in a hurry may not think well or mature well. The next best is a state of perpetual puerility.
lying power government
Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.
shapes hated oppressors
It is startling to see how the oppressed almost invariably shape themselves in the image of their hated oppressors.
loyalty dedication self
When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart from us to live for. All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.
inspirational funny education
An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.
faith history literature
Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
believe evil doubt
The suspicious mind believes more than it doubts. It believes in a formidable and ineradicable evil lurking in every person.
experience stirring foreboding
Even in slight things the experience of the new is rarely without some stirring of foreboding.
loss upset soul
Action is basically a reaction against loss of balance - a flailing of the arms to to regain one's balance. To dispose a soul to action, we must upset its equilibrium.
common-sense doctrine pascal
What Pascal said of an effective religion is true of any effective doctrine: it must be "contrary to nature, to common sense and to pleasure.
pain writing people
More significant than the fact that poets write abstrusely, painters paint abstractly, and composers compose unintelligible music is that people should admire what they cannot understand; indeed, admire that which has no meaning or principle.
students trouble university
The trouble is not chiefly that our universities are unfit for students but that many present-day students are unfit for universities.